


All the Stars of Albion

by Footloose



Series: May the Fourth [4]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Angsty Schmoop, Jealousy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-05-04
Packaged: 2018-06-06 10:46:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6750895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Footloose/pseuds/Footloose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The day Arthur got Merlin back from the Jedi was the day he realized that he'd break apart if he ever lost him again.  It took him a very long time to understand that he wasn't the only one, but he would do anything to spare Merlin that pain.  Even if it means compromising on rules and traditions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All the Stars of Albion

**Author's Note:**

> Happy May the Fourth!

"Not that it wasn't pleasant catching up with you again after nearly fifteen years, but is there a point to this visit, Sophia?"

Arthur leaned forward, placing his empty teacup on the low table. He pointedly gestured for the serving droid to go away, not wanting to extend this so-called _social visit_ any longer than it already was. He didn't even try to hide how he glanced at his wrist, hoping that Sophia would pick up on the hint that he was a busy man. In reality, Arthur was checking for messages from Leon. Arthur hadn't seen Merlin since Sophia's cruiser landed on the rooftop and she swanned down the tarmac, followed by a few hovering drone recorders that followed Sophia's every move and played it in real-time on entertainment networks everywhere.

He wasn't sure how she'd even found him. Their location was supposed to be secret.

Sophia had loudly announced that she was "Dropping by to visit her long-lost fiancé to convince him to stop fighting in this silly war and to come home with her and consummate their contractual engagement after an elaborate wedding", and all Arthur could hear was another fucking problem he didn't need right now. Merlin's expression had given nothing away, but his disappearance shortly afterward had spoken volumes.

Arthur would have gone after him, if not for those bloody drone recorders, Sophia's nails digging into his arm, and strict upbringing that had ingrained proper manners into his genetic code. He'd known this whole arranged marriage affair that Uther had put together when he was barely five years old would come back and bite him in the arse one day despite the measures he'd taken to cancel it, and since Merlin returned and they had become what they were, Arthur really should have pushed harder to have that contract dissolved

Arthur's wrist buzzed discreetly.

Leon's latest message was that _Pellinor saw Merlin leaving your rooms five minutes ago. Said he was on the warpath. Not sure where he is now, though._ Frowning, Arthur re-read the message, angling the screen away from the drone recorder that was floating closer, no doubt hoping for a glimpse. It wasn't until then that Arthur realized he'd missed what Sophia had just said.

"Sorry, what?" he asked impatiently, no longer caring that he was making an arse of himself on intergalactic television.

Sophia's smile became weepy and watery, just as fake as the rest of her on-screen persona. Arthur didn't know how she'd managed to convince her ultra-conservative father to let the networks film her every move. He would've thought that a princess would have a bit more… decorum, but Sophia seemed to have skipped all of her etiquette lessons. Personal dignity? Arthur didn't think she had an ounce of it.

If he understood correctly, there were more than a few explicit sex videos floating around. Supposedly, someone had hacked the privacy feed on the drone recorders. Arthur thought it was more likely that she'd turned them off deliberately to raise ratings for a flagging show.

Nice tits -- completely artificial, though Arthur was hardly a capable judge -- aside, Sophia really wasn't that interesting.

Her father, on the other hand…

If Sor Aulfric Sidhe thought he was fooling Arthur by having his gregarious daughter distract him during this very critical time, he was sadly mistaken. The war was going badly for the Republic, and the only reason that the Empire hadn't breached closer to the inner planets was because of the efforts of the remaining Jedi, the Clones, and the surprising participation of several otherwise-isolated planets scattered along the outer rim. The weapons that Arthur had secured from Morgana's mercenary group had helped a great deal, and Gwaine, when he could be bothered to look around during some of his smuggling runs, was providing a broad variety of surprisingly useful intel.

Aulfric planned on introducing a new war act that would give certain factions within the government complete control over the military forces. From what Arthur had been able to learn on the new bill, there were provisions to include the merchant guilds in the voting scheme, though purely because the guilds wanted to secure trade routes, and not because they wanted to win the war. A number of representatives in the council would vote in favour of the bill for that addendum alone, and only because they didn't want to run the risk of losing their financial support or earning their ire.

Hidden deep in the legalese were notations cutting out other important factions from the vote. The Jedi Council, who had been leading the war thus far, would be relegated to non-combat divisions, and assistance from non-Republic representatives would be turned away on the grounds that the Republic would never be able to repay the debt.

That meant that Albion would no longer be permitted to participate in the fight against the Empire and would be treated as war criminals if they did. There was no situation in which Arthur's Knights would come out of this looking any better than they'd gone in.

"Arthur. _Arthur_ ," Sophia said, and, Gods above! When had her voice gotten so bloody shrill? "Are you even listening to me?"

 _Not even a little bit_ , Arthur wanted to say. Instead, he said, "Forgive me. I have a few important affairs that need to be addressed today." He had a few meetings with some of the voting representatives on the council who were still undecided about the bill. He intended on swaying them to vote against, because without their votes the war would not only end quickly, it would also end disastrously for the Republic, and no one seemed to understand that. Aulfric had done a frighteningly good job of convincing them that ending the war was in their best interest in the short term and making them forget about the long term. "I'm afraid you caught me at a bad time. I'm going to have to leave you shortly."

"But I haven't seen you in so long," Sophia said, pouting. "Can't you reschedule your silly meetings? I was hoping you would join me for dinner."

Arthur raised a brow. He hadn't said anything about other meetings, and Sophia clearly wasn't as intelligent as she liked to think herself if she would reveal her hand like this. 

"It's mid-morning," Arthur pointed out. "Plenty of time for me to attend to my business and for you to…"

He gestured.

"Do whatever it is that you do to make yourself presentable at whatever exclusive, overpriced restaurant you're contracted to promote this week," Arthur said.

Sophia's mouth dropped open in annoyed protest. "Arthur!"

"Sadly, you'll have to find yourself another escort, and not only for this evening. For every day going forward," Arthur said, getting up. He buttoned up his jacket and smoothed down the fabric over where he kept his blaster out of habit. "Sophia, if I didn't make it clear fifteen years ago when I cancelled our arranged marriage and paid out the required fine as agreed upon by our fathers should one of us back out, I'll make it clear now. I am never marrying you."

"But you're not with anyone! Why don't you marry me?" Sophia blurted out. Her pout vanished for a second, replaced with vexation. _I'm a fucking prize, you tosser, don't you dare refuse me_ was in her tone, but otherwise left unsaid.

"I'll be honest. I can ignore all your vile personality quirks, but there's one thing by which I can't abide," Arthur said, acutely aware of the floating drone recorders transmitting live. "You always use the wrong bloody dinner fork."

Sophia looked at him blankly, clearly not getting it. After a second, she crossed her arms petulantly, which magnified her bosom, somehow, and said, "Well, I refuse to accept the cancellation of our engagement. You have to marry me."

" _Have to_?" Arthur asked, narrowing his eyes. Too many people had ordered him about as a child; they learned quickly how well he responded to it now. Arthur made a noise that could be construed as agreeable and calmly said, "I strongly suggest that you don't push the matter. It won't go well for you."

Sophia smiled smugly and draped herself over the arm of the sofa like a lazy, predatory cat. "Are you threatening me?"

"Not at all. I'm educating you. You see, I'm trying to help you and your father save some measure of… pride, if you will, though I suspect that ship sailed a long time ago. Since you and your father have yet to agree to rescind the arranged marriage agreement, you are legally obliged to return all monies that were forwarded to your accounts as compensation."

"Not a problem," Sophia said airily, waving a hand in the air. "It'll all be mine in the end."

"Oh, no. I don't think so," Arthur said. He waited a moment. "One of the terms of the agreement was a strongly-worded, extremely explicit morality clause and the penalties that would be charged to the guilty party. Those penalties include loss of all titles acquired through the marriage, the loss of all property deeded to them through the marriage, the loss of all monetary gains acquired through the marriage, up to and including any inheritances and allowances that occurred during this time. In addition, all rights of custody to any children produced from the marriage will revert to the other parent."

Sophia's smile wavered slightly, but she pressed on, undeterred. "I haven't done anything to contravene the clause."

"Really?" Arthur smirked. He gestured toward the hovering drone recorders, which had been following Sophia's life for every second of every day for the last five years. "I'm sure there's evidence… somewhere… of illegal recreational drug use, criminal negligence risking the lives of others, kidnapping minors, blackmailing official intergalactic representatives, and… there was at least one more thing, what was it again?"

He stared at the ceiling before snapping his fingers.

"Yes, of course. Faithlessness outside the permitted terms of the marriage arrangement, in which both parties are required to be _discreet_ in their alternate relationships." Arthur paused. "Three words, Sophia. Multiple. Sex. Tapes."

Sophia stared at him. Her mouth was open and it was moving, but no sound came out.

"I expect you to unearth the original documents for the annulment of the arranged marriage, countersign them, and to return them promptly for legal filing," Arthur said. "I'll be generous and give you six hours. That's roughly the time it would take to download the file from your home planet through the Republic crucibles, with some allowance for you to sign the paperwork and to forward it to me. If I haven't received this document in that time, I'll have my lawyers contact you to begin legal proceedings for dissolution and compensation."

"But… you… Arthur --"

"Please," Arthur said, doing his best to sound sincere for the drone recorders and the audience watching the live feed. "I'm trying to do what's best for you. You shouldn't let me stand in your way of living your life."

Sophia didn't get a chance to answer. The building alarms blared.

The Knights burst into the sitting room, weapons armed, even as Arthur was heading out the door. He took one of the heavier blasters from one of his men and barked, "Get her out of the building, she's not safe here."

He was only peripherally aware of one of the drone recorders breaking loose of the cloud, following him down the corridor. Arthur caught up to Leon. "What tripped the alarm?"

"Unscheduled transport landing on the rooftop," Leon said, checking his weapon as he walked. They boarded the lift platform along with several other Knights and the bloody drone.

"Identification?" Arthur asked, flicking through the rifle's settings. He was trying to decide between _Stun, Kill,_ and _Vaporize_.

"Mercenary, looks like," Leon said. "Must have tracked us through the recorder feed from Sophia's transmitter. We expected as much. Galahad is already making alternate arrangements for the rest of our stay on-planet."

 _Vaporize_ , it was, then. 

"Any word on… that other matter?" Arthur said, hesitating. 

Leon followed his glance to the drone recorder and couched his words just as carefully. "Oh, yes. As usual, it's ahead of us."

"Of course it is," Arthur said grumpily. At this rate, Merlin would take away all his fun. How was Arthur supposed to work out the frustration of having to deal with Sophia now? He'd been looking forward to some target practice. A bit of exercise would get his blood boiling and would ease the tension in his shoulders, but if he knew Merlin at all, those mercenaries would be littering the rooftop tarmac before Arthur and his Knights arrived.

Still, he couldn't help but be relieved to know that Merlin hadn't taken off when he realized who Sophia was and what she was after. Arthur wasn't certain how much damage had been done, but he was already making plans to apologize profusely, on many levels, with as much groveling as was required.

They were on their guard as the lift ascended to the sheltered section of the rooftop. The Knights fanned out and moved ahead toward the open ground, but Arthur knew that he'd been right. Except for the regular low buzz of transports moving through the skyroads and the usual hubbub of activity at this level, he couldn't hear so much as the familiar hum of Merlin's lightsaber or the blast- _bzzt_ of mercenary weapons. Sure enough, as soon as they emerged into the open air, all Arthur saw were bodies littering the ground, a few barrels singed and upturned out toward the shelter of their on-planet transport, and a mercenary ship that was blowing smoke and listing away from the extended portcullis.

Merlin scratched the back of his neck as he surveyed the damage, largely unconcerned. The tightness of his jaw betrayed a surprising amount of anger for someone with his training, and Arthur stuffed his disappointment at not having anything to kill if it meant that Merlin wasn't likely to skewer him. Still, he needed to shoot something, and --

He shot the fucking drone recorder as it floated out ahead of them to get a good wide scan of the destruction.

Leon and the Knights turned to look at him, their weapons down.

"Stray mercenary fire," Arthur said tightly. He brought his rifle down and randomly shot at one of the bodies. "Taken care of, now." Then, ignoring the smirk spreading across Leon's face, he shoved the weapon into a Knight's chest on his way over to Merlin.

"Don't talk to me," Merlin said, his voice cold. He stalked away from Arthur without another word. All of Arthur's plans to apologize and to make it up to Merlin evaporated, and he had absolutely no idea what to do to fix what was, in his estimation, his most monumental cock-up to date.

Many hours later, emerging from his sixth meeting with a fellow Councillor to try to sway the vote away from Sor Aulfric Sidhe's ridiculous bill, Arthur ducked into an empty office for a moment's peace and pinched the bridge of his nose. He acknowledged Leon as the Captain of his personal guard followed him, and said, "Give me some good news. I'll take anything at this point. The Jedi need us to ferry them to another outpost in some far flung galaxy where they line up politicians for target practice. Sidhe's database was corrupted and he no longer has a viable copy of the act he wants to pass. They're having Saandoran meatloaf for dinner. _Anything_."

"You're done for the day?" Leon offered.

Arthur snorted. " _For the day_ implies that I have more of the same tomorrow, and there's no use lying to me about that. That's hardly good news."

"Well, then. Galahad found us a new place to stay for the week, and all our belongings have already been moved over, exactly as they were in the last building. Security measures are nearly completed."

"Wonderful," Arthur muttered. "Good, but not news; you told me about this earlier."

"Right," Leon said, sighing. Hesitantly, he added, "I know you don't broker gossip amongst the men, but… Pellinor mentioned that Merlin caught some of Sophia's reality show."

Arthur stood up straighter, not sure if he should be relieved or concerned. "Yeah?"

"The bit at the end, with you and Sophia? That part, according to Pellinor," Leon said.

"And?" Arthur turned to look at Leon. At Leon's confused look, he said, "How did he react? Was he upset? Did it make things worse? Good Gods, man, tell me something. If this is bollocksed up beyond all repair, we may as well look for yet another place to live entirely. Or run off the planet now, before he decides how he wants to skewer me."

"Pellinor didn't say." Leon scratched his jaw. 

"That's not very helpful," Arthur muttered. He allowed Leon to pull him out of the empty office, but operated on his own power for the rest of the walk to the lower, less secure levels, where they were joined by the remainder of the Knights for the short trip to their transport. It wasn't far to the new apartments, but the circuitous route they took to dodge anyone following them dragged things out until Arthur's belly was twisted into uncomfortable knots.

What if Merlin didn't forgive him for this terrific blunder? Worse, what if he didn't even give Arthur a chance to explain? If Merlin had seen part of the broadcast, had he seen the _important_ part, where Arthur had said that the arrangement had been over and done with for over fifteen years, as far as he was concerned?

He couldn't shake off his misery and was glad when they finally arrived. Leon escorted Arthur to his new apartment and made him wait while it was swept and secured, but that was the limit of their interaction. For all their long friendship, Leon knew far too well that there was no drawing Arthur out of this sort of mood. Maybe he would have some sympathy for Arthur and would send someone looking after Merlin.

With a longing sigh that was quickly followed by a sinking feeling when he realized that none of Merlin's few belongings were in his rooms. They kept up the pretence of being nothing more than colleagues in arms when they were on-planet, and they were always careful, but Merlin always left… something for Arthur to find, though no one would know it didn't belong to Arthur except for Arthur and Merlin.

This time, though, there was nothing.

The doors to the apartment slid open, and Arthur glanced over his shoulder, half-expecting one of the Knights to advise that the security measures had all been installed. When Arthur saw that it was Merlin, his eyes narrowed, his stance stiff, Arthur surged forward. 

"Oh, no, none of that," Arthur hissed, because he wasn't going to lose his chance. He headed toward Merlin, stalking him until Merlin was backed up into a corner, and the two of them stared wordlessly at each other for the longest time before Arthur said, "All your things are gone."

"I didn't want to…" Merlin's tone was flat but awkward. He shrugged a shoulder. "I assumed… Well. If I'm being honest, I'm not entirely sure why I removed them."

"You're a numpty, that's why," Arthur said, bracing his hands on the wall on either side of Merlin, caging him in.

"Lovely. I'm the one who discovers that you're engaged to be married to a vivacious man-eater, and that's how you treat me? I thought it best if I clear out, give you some space in case you felt the desire to… bump uglies."

"Bump uglies?" Arthur repeated, at first confused, then mortified that Merlin would even think that was a possibilities. "Not only is that a very literal description, it's so incorrect that I have no words to counter, and, in any case, that engagement was never my idea, and I did everything I could to nullify the contract."

Merlin raised an eyebrow.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Very well. I may have neglected to follow through."

Merlin's eyebrow rose higher.

"For fifteen years," Arthur said.

Merlin's eyes narrowed.

"Most of which you weren't around for," Arthur said, knowing as soon as he'd spoken that he was only digging himself a bigger hole. 

Merlin crossed his arms, unimpressed.

"And I didn't mention any of this to you, but that's because… Well. I'm not excusing myself, of course, but I forgot. It's as plain as that. So much time passed that I didn't think of it at all."

A little scoff escaped Merlin. Merlin sighed. His arms dropped to his side and he said, "I don't have any right to --"

"Yes," Arthur interrupted. A little, hurt frown appeared on Merlin, and Arthur hurried to finish, "Yes, you do. We agreed a long time ago. No secrets between us. Nothing comes between us. You're _it_ for me, Merlin. I have no desire to be with anyone else or to muck this up."

Merlin bowed his head.

"I'm sorry. I could have told you. Explained the situation. I just… None of it was my idea. It was all Uther. He wasn't best known for his taste. I mean, really. Do you remember Catriona? That's a masterful example of his horrible choices."

A tiny smile tugged at Merlin's lips.

"Please forgive me, Merlin. This wasn't a secret. It was an aberration and an inconvenience from a time when I had no control over my own life. I did what I could to end it as soon as I could, and I've taken measures to end it once and for all."

"Do you regret it?" Merlin asked suddenly. 

"Cancelling the engagement? Absolutely not. Not even a little bit. I would much rather --"

"Marrying," Merlin clarified quickly. "I mean. Not marrying. You're a King. You should have heirs. And you can't have them with me."

"Of course I can," Arthur said, frowning. Reproductive technology had come a long way; he'd heard of medical droids who had successfully spliced mammal and plant alien species to create viable hybrids. Grafting the genetic material of two willing men into a blank egg was a science that had been perfected a very, very long time ago. Arthur might not know how it worked, but they wouldn't be the first to go that route, if… If that was what they wanted, of course.

His frown lessened when he realized why, exactly, Merlin was upset.

"Love," Arthur whispered, touching Merlin's cheek with gentle fingers. "I'm never getting married to anyone but you, and as long as your sort doesn't let you marry, I'm never getting married. Do you understand? There is absolutely no power in this universe that will make me kneel next to someone and take the same vows of fidelity that my parents gave each other unless the person next to me is you."

"Arthur." Merlin shook his head. "I can't ask you to do that. You know I can't."

"Maybe not," Arthur said, taking a slow step closer. He cradled Merlin's face with his hands. "But that's what you're getting. Me. All of me. No strings attached. No obligations hanging over either of our heads. No bloody fucking contracts. And most importantly, no one between us. I don't ask for anything else. I don't want anyone else. I just want you. As you are. However I can get you."

Sadness drifted into Merlin's eyes. "You deserve more."

"It's enough," Arthur promised. He kissed Merlin's cheek. "It's enough because it's you. And a single one of you is an universe that's hardly big enough to contain how much I love you. I don't need a ring on my finger to know that you love me just as much."

"More," Merlin said, lowering his head. His brow brushed Arthur's temple, offering penance. "I… I was jealous of her. I felt so dark. Angry. I've never felt like that before. I thought I would suffocate from it."

Arthur pulled Merlin close, holding him tightly. "No. You wouldn't have. You wouldn't have. I wouldn't have let you. I'm never going to let you fall."

"Promise?" Merlin asked, his smile small against Arthur's cheek. His hands trembled where they were holding on to Arthur.

"I'll do more than promise," Arthur said, leaning back to meet Merlin's eyes. "After this, we're going home. Straight to Camelot. We'll go for a ride to the lake to our old spot. Have a picnic like we did whenever we snuck away from the castle. And once the moons rise high in the sky, under all the stars of Albion, I will swear the vows of fidelity to you as I will swear them to no one else."

Arthur kissed Merlin. Soft and gentle, stretching it out as long as he could, because he wanted Merlin to understand that what they had, it was eternal.

"I only ask for one thing in return. A trifle, nothing more, really. Just… Perhaps. The next time a bunch of mercenaries out for our blood comes knocking at our door, maybe you could leave one of them for me? I mean, shooting the drone was nice, but it wasn't half as satisfying. Not even a little bit."

Merlin's little laugh was muffled by how tightly he was holding on to Arthur, as if Arthur was his only lifeline. His voice was thick with tears when he whispered, "I know. I know you'll never let me fall. You're my light even after everything else has gone dark. I can't ever lose you."

 _Nor can I,_ Arthur didn't say, pressing a kiss to Merlin's temple instead.


End file.
